Britons keep £5.6bn at home rather bank it

Research by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) has found that more than £5.6bn in cash is left in homes. Excluding money in householders wallets, the average amount kept at home is just under £218 per UK household.

These large sums could be attributed to the fact that more than one in 10 people – 13 per cent of those questioned – believe their money is safer kept at home than deposited in a bank or building society account. Only 64 per cent disagreed.

People hoarding money at home though are taking a risk as even the most comprehensive home insurance policies only allow for a relatively small amount of cash to be refunded in the event of a claim for burglary or fire.

"Any cash which is kept at home receives no interest, and may not be covered by household insurance and so could be lost if the house is damaged.

"If a bank or building society was to fail most customers would get their money back in less than a week, so there really is no need to keep it under the bed, in a jam jar or even, as one person told us, the handle of a fishing rod," said Mark Neale, the FSCS's chief executive.